Dante Exum impresses NBA scouts at Draft Combine in Chicago

It was mission accomplished for Dante Exum, the Australian basketball prodigy who has survived his first major test on the way to possible stardom.

The 18-year-old lived up to the hype at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, impressing team executives, coaches and the US media with his speed, jumping ability, wingspan and intelligence.

Despite being more of a point guard, Exum was put in the shooting guard group and eclipsed the field in the speed tests.

He has met with seven teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings and Milwaukee Bucks, and remains the consensus number-four pick in June's NBA Draft behind US college stars; Duke's Jabari Parker, and Kansas's Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid.

Some teams are hesitant about Jayhawks big man Embiid who missed the NCAA tournament with slight stress fracture in his back.

"I interviewed with four teams in total yesterday, so I think that's seven teams now," Exum told ESPN.

"They just want to get me in, learn a bit about me and know what I'm about."

The Combine gives teams a chance to meet, observe and measure the top young basketballers who have declared for the draft.

Exum was the star attraction mostly because he has been dubbed the draft's international man of mystery.

He did not play US college basketball and the only time many NBA coaches and executives had seen him was via YouTube video clips.

Teams were able to measure players at the combine in order to get a more accurate measurement of their height and wingspan which colleges in particular often bump up.

Exum measured in at 6'6" (198 centimetres) tall in shoes and 6'4.5" (194cm) bare-foot, but it was his 6'9.5" (207cm) wingspan that had NBA teams drooling, confirming the Australian Institute of Sport graduate had the physical potential to be a dominant guard on both ends of the floor.

One major question mark teams have with Exum is he made the strategic move of not bouncing or shooting a basketball in Chicago, declining to participate in drills with other players.

Scouts say Exum's shooting accuracy is his weakness, but teams will have the opportunity to test him during planned workouts over the next few weeks.

Fellow Australian Cameron Bairstow from the University of New Mexico was also in Chicago and weighed in at 114.7 kilograms - the third-heaviest of all the prospects - and a tick over 6'9" (206cm).

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